


there was a thunder inside of my heart

by blackkat



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [90]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship/Love, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: Times like this, Kisame thinks, squinting down at their newest client, he really wishes Akatsuki didn’t have a reputation for taking jobs cheap.





	there was a thunder inside of my heart

Times like this, Kisame thinks, squinting down at their newest client, he really wishes Akatsuki didn’t have a reputation for taking jobs cheap.

“You want me to assassinate the missing-nin you hired to assassinate another guy?” he clarifies, and doesn’t bother to hide all the sharp teeth in his grin. The guy looks like he’s about to wet himself just looking at Kisame straight on, which is always fun.

“Yes,” the man huffs, nudging his black glasses up a little higher. “He’s become more trouble than he’s worth, and his apprentice is a savage beast. I was assured you wouldn’t have a problem.”

Kakuzu at his customer service best, Kisame thinks, amused. “I can do it,” he agrees, because unless the missing-nin is a secret jinchuuriki he’s not going to have to even strain himself. “You set the deadline for two days from now?”

“ _Yes_ , shouldn’t you have all this information already?” the man asks pointedly, and one of his bodyguards shifts nervously. Disgraced samurai, Kisame thinks, eyeing them with a hungry grin. He likes fighting samurai.

“Just double-checking,” he says cheerfully, and takes a step around the shipping magnate. “I’ll bring you his head in two days.”

“And his apprentice, too! And wait until after he kills the Bridge-Builder, or I won't pay you the rest of your fee,” the man prods, and one of the samurai winces.

“Gato-sama,” he starts.

Kisame doesn’t hang around to hear the rest, just starts wading into the ocean. There's no way into Wave except Gato’s boats, and Kisame isn't about to subject himself to more of the man’s presence. Kakuzu also won't be happy if he pays for rides from the man who’s supposed to be paying _them_ , and besides, Kisame doesn’t mind a swim. It’s only a short way to the opposite shore, after all.

He wonders, a little, why Gato’s willing to hire another missing-nin when it clearly didn’t work out well for him the first time. But there are a lot of missing-nin who get their money early on and then aren’t honorable enough to finish the job. This might be one of those cases, and that at least will make this job fairly satisfying. Kisame doesn’t like people who don’t hold up their end of a bargain.

Kakuzu didn’t get a name, and Gato was pretty squirrely about giving Kisame more than a location where the other missing-nin would be, but Wave’s a small place, starving and poor; it’s not going to take a lot of effort to find a pair of shinobi on this island. The hardest part will be lying low, Kisame thinks, and chuckles to himself as his feet find sand again. He straightens out of the water, shaking himself off, and wades up onto the beach. No people, but that’s to be expected; Gato’s ships frequent this part of the bay, and that likely makes for poor fishing.

With a touch of will, he sends the water from his clothes whirling back into the ocean, shakes the leftover salt off the cloth, and checks that Samehada’s still completely covered. He likely won't need to use his sword for this, because anyone desperate enough to hire on with a thug like Gato, giving himself airs and thinking he’s the king of the world, is likely either dumb or desperate. Neither promises a great fight, but Kisame hopes it will be at least a little interesting. He’d been bored with the missions he’s been getting recently, and there's still a while before they can start hunting the bijuu.

Patting Samehada’s wrapped blade, he heads up the beach and over the first roll of the low dunes, to where a road twists past the sand. Wide but rutted, in poor repair, but Kisame's guessing they don’t exactly get a lot of tourism right now. He did a bit of checking up on Gato before he met the man, and he’s a small-time kingpin who thinks the next step up is controlling his own country. Wave just happens to be his target, vulnerable because of its location, and Kisame pities the people here.

 

He finds the house the missing-nin is supposedly staying in after a few hours of aimless wandering as he gets the lay of the land. Several of Gato’s thugs are loitering there, looking disreputable, and Kisame chuckles to himself as he watches them. They’re spooked, and he’s willing to bet that has a lot to do with the missing-nin in residence. A lot of civilians from smaller towns have never seen a shinobi, let alone one who’s betrayed and abandoned their village. Keeps them on their toes, Kisame thinks, and slips around towards the back of the house, moving silently. No shinobi is going to use the front door, _especially_ not when they could slip in and out of a window and startle that crew of thugs by appearing at random.

The back really does seem a better bet; there's a light on in one of the upstairs windows, voices that just reach Kisame through the cracked glass of a downstairs window. Voices that are coming closer, even, and Kisame sinks back into the deepening shadows, grinning in anticipation. There are a few high-ranking missing-nin scattered across Fire Country, and Kisame wants this to be one of them, wants the promise of a good fight. Unlikely, but—

“Are you sure you're fine?” a young voice asks, light but full of concern and a thread of anger. “That man got you—”

“Weren’t you the one just telling me there’s nothing else wrong?” an annoyed voice counters, and Kisame goes still, eyes narrowing.

“I didn’t think you’d immediately jump out of bed to train,” the younger one says. “If you collapse I'm going to have to carry you back, and Gato’s men will laugh at you.”

“Then you’ll just have to kill them for me.” The door opens, and a figure shuffles through, leaning on a teenager’s shoulder.

 _Oh_ , Kisame thinks, a little numb as he stares at the familiar silhouette of Momochi Zabuza. This is Gato’s missing-nin. This is the shinobi Kisame was hired to kill.

It’s startling to see him here. Even more startling to see him like this, so thin he’s been pared down to muscle and bone and nothing else. Still fighting-fit, but by the skin of his teeth and with a lot of effort, Kisame is sure. Kubikiribōchō is still slung over his back, and the kid with him—that must be the shrimp that used to follow around at his heels, significantly taller than Kisame remembers him. They both look travel-worn, and Zabuza is a little pale, putting weight on Haku as he moves. Recently come from a fight that didn’t go well for him, and Kisame wishes he could be surprised that Zabuza got in over his head again, but he’s not.

Zabuza always did tend to treat limits like suggestions and boundaries like they were meant for other people. It’s one of the things Kisame's always liked best about him, a low-caste brat who forced his way into the Seven Swordsmen, who slaughtered his Academy classmates and forced Kiri to change in the bloodiest way he could manage.

This is Gato’s missing-nin, and Kisame is supposed to kill him.

Perfectly still, Kisame watches Zabuza and Haku limp down the road, headed for the forest. Watches long after their silhouettes have disappeared into the haze of the setting sun, and then closes his eyes, laying a hand over Samehada’s blade.

He still thinks of Zabuza as his comrade. Still thinks of himself as one of the Swordsmen, and Zabuza along with him. This job is a cheap one, simple, taken only because Kakuzu is a greedy bastard and Gato offered a bonus. But—

Kisame's killed so many of his comrades over the years. One more shouldn’t make a difference. No matter how much Kisame has always liked Zabuza, or thought his tagalong was cute, or that Zabuza himself was honorable, this is a job. An assassination. Zabuza is supposed to die in two days’ time, right after he kills the Bridge-Builder.

It would be easy, Kisame thinks distractedly. Zabuza’s good with Suiton jutsus, but Kisame is better. Zabuza is worn and likely malnourished, and Kisame's not. It would take a few minutes, maybe come close to a decent fight, but at the end of it Zabuza would be dead, and so would Haku.

 _I’ll bring you his head_ , Kisame hears, the echo of his own voice, and closes his eyes, rubbing a hand over his face and blowing out a breath.

 _Damn_ , he thinks, and laughs at himself, bitterly amused. Thinks of Zabuza the last time he saw him, watching Kisame walk out the gates of Kiri with that strange expression on his face, and the way his skin had felt against Kisame's palm when he touched his cheek one last time, and—

Well. Hopefully Kakuzu won't mind if Kisame forfeits the remaining part of the mission pay, just this once.


End file.
